Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Thermoforming Behaviour of Thermoplastic Composite Sandwich Materials

Lightweight sandwich systems are specialized composite materials known for their excellent weight specific mechanical properties. The novel combination of thin continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic face sheets and low-density honeycomb core are so-called organosandwich materials. These structural materials are used in different applications, such as aerospace, automotive, marine, wind turbines etc. In addition to the structural benefits, they offer several other key benefits like recyclability and shorter manufacturing cycle times. The hybrid-manufacturing process called TS-Moulding enables and extends the application of flat semi-finished organosandwich materials into complex shaped geometry parts that suit diverse industries.

The new materials and their related processing technologies always require a detailed study about the material behaviour and process-related defects to improve the reproducibility. Using FEM tools, the process optimization, design and development of the components become more efficient. However, complex materials and thermo-mechanical based manufacturing processes require detailed study of process parameters and characterization of the materials which is described in this research study.